Overview

• Osama Elmasry Njeem, a Libyan official accused of war crimes, was arrested in Italy but released due to discrepancies in the ICC arrest warrant.
• Italy’s Justice Minister Carlo Nordio criticized the warrant, citing contradictions in the timeline of alleged crimes and procedural errors in its transmission.
• The ICC later issued a corrected version of the warrant, but Njeem had already been repatriated to Libya on an Italian military plane.
• The release has led to political fallout in Italy, with opposition leaders accusing Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's government of damaging the country's credibility.
• Human rights groups and a South Sudanese migrant who alleges torture by Njeem have criticized Italy for failing to comply with its obligations as an ICC member state.